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The Pros and Cons of the KonMari Method Step 1- Clothes

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I’ve been doing the KonMari Method Step 1 for awhile now.  One of my New Year’s resolution was to take more time to do things right.  Mainly, because I felt frustrated doing things wrong over and over again.  I was going to do some research and do things right from the beginning.

One thing that was a constant source of frustration was the kid’s clothes and drawers.  I felt clothes were everywhere and always a mess.  I would walk in their room and didn’t know what was clean or dirty so I decided to make a change. Watching Tidying up on Netflix (Marie Kondo’s show) got me inspired!

If you're trying to get organized, read this to make sure the KonMari Method is right for you. - The Pros and Cons of the KonMari Method Step 1- Clothes #KonMari #KonMariMethod #organizing #OrganizingClothes #MarieKondo #KonMariStep1

If you don’t know, the KonMari Method has 5 steps and she suggests you do all these in order.

  1. Clothes
  2. Books
  3. Papers
  4. Miscellaneous stuff that she calls Komono
  5. Sentimental

I feel I’m not a person with a lot of clutter and clean out and throw away things regularly.  I shred papers and usually don’t buy books.  The books I buy  I usually pass on to someone else to read.  I have a couple of junk drawers and catch all places, but doesn’t everyone.

I felt my real struggle was with clothes and mainly the kid’s drawers.  They couldn’t find anything and it felt like there clothes were overflowing, all while compiling they needed more pants or long sleeved shirts.

I was inspired to try the KonMari Method for drawers.  I didn’t have much to loose so I started with one kid to test before I did the other two!

If you're trying to get organized, read this to make sure the KonMari Method is right for you. - The Pros and Cons of the KonMari Method Step 1- Clothes #KonMari #KonMariMethod #organizing #OrganizingClothes #MarieKondo #KonMariStep1

The Pros and Cons of the KonMari Method Step 1- Clothes

KonMari Method Step 1 Pros

*Drawers are neat and clean.

It sure is nice to walk past everyone’s room and not see open drawers and especially not seeing open drawers with clothes hanging out.  Some people organizing their clothes by color, but I didn’t see that really necessary for our family.

*Kids can see ALL their clothes.  

They are wearing shirts and pants I haven’t seen in forever and I’m hearing, “I forgot I had this shirt.”  This folding method allows you to see what’s on the shirt so you aren’t pulling out things to see exactly what it is.  You can file through them to get what you need.

*This method has a calming effect.

When the kids look in their drawer for a certain item, they can find it.  There has been no frustration (in the clothes department) on early school mornings.  I think it’s a great feeling to open a drawer and see how orderly it is and I think the kids feel the same way.  No clothes are thrown on the floor while looking for a specific item.

When a shirt falls out now or they change their mind about wearing something, they call me in and tell me so I can fold it and put it back in neatly.  They love the way it looks.

KonMari Method Step 1 Cons

*Folding clothes does take more time.

There is a learning curve to folding the clothes and it does take a longer.  I have gotten faster, but it still takes longer than the old way.

*Putting clothes away takes more time.  

When I folded clothes the “regular” way,  I just laid the clothes out on my bed and everyone came and got their pile.  Most the time they were carrying too many and should have made more trips.  Clothes were falling on the floor and they were stuffing them into drawer.  It could be the correct drawer, it may not have been.  Who knows?

Now, I put all the clothes away.  That will change soon, but I wanted to be comfortable folding and making sure we stuck with the method before I let the kids do this task.

Here’s Marie Kondo showing how to correctly fold using her method.

Overall, the pros outweigh the cons.  Everyone is our house LOVES this method!  My husband even asked for me to start folding his clothes the KonMari way.

You have to be open to changing the way you do things.  I used to sit on the couch and fold clothes.  Now I dump the load on the dining room table so I can lay the clothes flat when I fold.

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